A small, but necessary, step in the right direction

From my old stomping grounds. Is this even on our Durham Board of County Commissioners' radar?

Suffolk County, on the eastern half of Long Island, moved to create the nation's first animal abuse registry this week, requiring people convicted of cruelty to animals to register or face jail time and fines.

"We know there is a very strong correlation between animal abuse and domestic violence," said Suffolk County legislator Jon Cooper, the bill's sponsor. "Almost every serial killer starts out by torturing animals, so in a strange sense we could end up protecting the lives of people."

There's no immediate benefit to Durham County coffers, so i can't see the clown show making an effort in this direction. But don't you think that improving the quality of life in the county will have more long term benefit than shitty development that may very well end up vacant in 15 years?

Suffolk county also, about 5 years ago, responded to the first known cases of rabies in the wild with an aggressive program to eradicate the disease by providing oral vaccines in salt licks in the area where the outbreak occurred. Here in Durham, where rabies is endemic in our raccoon and fox populations, the county's preferred solution is to tell you to avoid contact with wild animals, and where rubber gloves when disposing of any carcasses you find on your property.

Continue reading A small, but necessary, step in the right direction

Fuck the Eagles

. . . and their fans.

Michael Vick is back in the NFL, landing a job with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Agent Joel Segal confirmed the quarterback's signing, shortly before the team announced it in a text message. The Eagles gave Vick a one-year deal with an option for a second year.

Adding, if the Eagles can afford $1.6 mil (with an option that could bring it up to nearly $6 mil) on Vick, maybe they could contribute an equal amount of money to spy and neuter programs and animal shelters in the Philadelphia area which, i'm sure, are suffering from cutbacks at the local government level at this time.

I won't hold my breath, though.

Continue reading Fuck the Eagles

N&O

Holy shit! Is someone asleep at the switch over at the Old Reliable? How else to explain the sheer idiocy of Ruth Sheehan's paean to irresponsible driving in today's edition?

Here's a clue - your car is only your private property when it's sitting on your driveway. Once you take it onto a public roadway, where its 3000 pounds moving at 40+ miles per hour is more than capable of killing and maiming, the rest of us have the right to tell you what you can and can't do when you're behind the wheel.

Yeah, i know. N&O columnists get paid to generate controversy. It pulls in eyeballs. I didn't realize that they got paid to write Teh Stupid.

Meanwhile, my friend (and former N&O editor RH) alerts me to this story, which is almost a text book case of irresponsible journalism.

North Carolina's meat industries are battling a bill the Humane Society of the United States and its vegan president say is meant to protect puppies, warning instead that it is the first step toward ending meat eating as we know it.

First, here's the one piece of factual information presented in the article.

The House agriculture committee is expected soon to hear a bill pushed by the national Humane Society that regulates and imposes licensing for commercial dog breeding. Some dog enthusiasts oppose the bill but its proponents portray it as a crackdown on puppy mills, such as the one that was raided in Goldsboro in February because of unsanitary conditions. Officials from both Wayne County and the Humane Society of the United States removed about 300 dogs and puppies.

Somehow, from this and the fact that the director of HSUS is a vegan, the pork lobby is convinced that "(t)he public is very unaware that the Humane Society of the United States has a very direct agenda to eliminate the use of animals for food."
(emphasis added)

Well, actually, the reason why we're unaware of this, is that it's not true. But that doesn't stop staff writer Mark Johnson from making it the top quote in his article. He also misses completely when he writes "(Amanda) Arrington's arrival last year signaled the group's elevated interest in the state." Actually, Amanda's been here for a number of years, putting her money where her mouth is by founding and leading the Coalition to Unchain Dogs, a group we've been highly supportive of at DE. Her work in the local community far predates her position as director of the Humane society for North Carolina. But why let some facts get in the way of a good fear mongering session?

Finally, what the fuck does it even mean to say, "ending meat eating as we know it?" Does Johnson expect that we'll start growing synthetic protein in backyard fermenters? Or maybe he thinks that Soylent Green is going to be the next big thing.

Continue reading N&O

Cockfighting

Wonder if my old neighbor is one of those arrested?

More than 70 people have been arrested in a cockfighting ring that secretly gathered in central North Carolina to watch a $40,000 tournament so gruesome that one of the roosters splattered blood on the investigators' search warrant, authorities said.

Deputies didn't expect to find so many people crammed into three chicken houses that had been cleaned out to provide hidden parking spaces and a cockfighting pit, Randolph County Sheriff Maynard Reid Jr. said in an interview Monday. Authorities arrested 73 people, ranging in age from 16 to 79, and charged them all with felonies for cockfighting and cruelty to animals.

. . .

He described a grisly scene: About 20 birds were already dead, eliminated early from a deadly tournament. A fight was ongoing when deputies arrived, and one of the combatant roosters jumped up onto the betting table and spattered blood onto a search warrant that investigators were serving, Reid said.

The tournament's grand champion, Reid said, was slated to win $40,000. He named the ringleader as 33-year-old Barry Ritter. Reid said Ritter was charging $25 to watch the event at a facility he owned with his father, who was not among those arrested.

"I think it was used at one time to raise chickens," Reid said. "Now it is being used for cockfighting. They had a rural area. They thought nobody would catch them there. But I think we've sent a message that we will not tolerate this in our county."

Looks like quite a few Durham addresses among those busted. Would be interesting to see how many complaints are on file with Durham's Animal Control Department regarding those addresses.

Continue reading Cockfighting

Sicker people

WTF?

A dead bear was found dumped this morning on the Western Carolina University campus, draped with a pair of Obama campaign signs, university police said.
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Maintenance workers reported about 7:45 a.m. finding a 75-pound bear cub dumped at the roundabout near the Catamount statute at the entrance to campus, said Tom Johnson, chief of university police.

“It looked like it had been shot in the head as best we can tell. A couple of Obama campaign signs had been stapled together and stuck over its head,” Johnson said.

University police called in N.C. Wildlife Resources officials to remove the body and help in the investigation. Bear season is currently under way in Western North Carolina.

Core values, i guess.

UPDATE: WRAL has a story saying this was a prank, and that a bunch of WCU students "found" the bear, already shot, in the woods. The Obama signs were picked up at random and wrapped around the head wounds to keep "blood from spilling into the bed of the truck they were driving."

WCU chancellor John Bardo is quoted in the story as saying "I am pleased to hear that this situation appears to be a stupid prank."

Yeah, right.

Continue reading Sicker people

Throw the book at him

Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour apparently was irritated by a noisy red-shouldered hawk while he was taping a video at Orlando's Grand Cypress Golf Club. So he took took aim with his golf club and after 9 attempts felled the protected bird, which was singing away in a nearby tree. Now Orange County prosecutors have filed two misdemeanor charges -- cruelty to animals and killing an migratory bird -- against the 39-year-old Nationwide Tour player. Tripp could face up to a $10,000 fine.

The fatal swing took place on Dec. 12 while Isenhour was taping a video "Shoot Like a Pro." A film crew was taping the Orlando golfer saying some lines when the hawk started singing about 300 yards away. Its noise stopped the taping at least twice, said sound engineer Jethro Senger. That's what appeared to set Isenhour off, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports. He hopped into a golf cart and drove around a lake to the tree where the bird sat. For 10 minutes, while the crew waited, Isenhour hit several golf balls toward the bird.

The golfer gave up and returned the set, Senger told investigators. The bird then flew closer to the crew and perched in a tall tree about 75 yards away. He continued singing. Isenhour started hitting drives at the bird -- getting closer with each swing, witnesses told investigators. One ball hit the tree trunk, making a loud sound. On his 10th swing, the ball hit the bird, causing it to fall more than 30 feet to the ground. Isenhour yelled, "I didn't think I would hit it."

We've had red shouldered hawks nesting within a block or two of our house for at least three of the past 6 years. They're amazing creatures, and when you hear a pair of them calling to each other, you know it's time to get the cats inside. That this guy spent so much time tracking this bird down is inconceivable. Not only does he need to spend a bit of time behind bars, as well as pay a hefty fine and do some community service, the rest of the damn film crew needs to take some lessons in responsibility as well.

Continue reading Throw the book at him